DETROIT: Former Chrysler CEO Lee Iacocca has some advice for the people who are running his old company, and those who will lead the new General Motors: Get the government out of your business as soon as possible.

Iacocca, a slick pitchman who became an American hero in the early 1980s when he used over $1 billion in government loan guarantees to rescue the nearly defunct Chrysler, said in a recent interview with The Associated Press that government intervention was strong motivation to repay the loan early.

"They're on you day and night. Their oversight is just too extreme," said Iacocca, who is promoting a new limited-edition customized Iacocca Ford Mustang. "That's why our 10-year loan, we paid it back in three years. We couldn't stand the government. The bureaucracy kills you."